GameLine

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

GameLine was an early dial-up game service for the Atari 2600 created by Control Video Corporation (CVC), the company that would later become AOL. To use it, players needed a special Master Module modem and a storage cartridge for their Atari 2600. They could dial in over a phone line to download games. Each download cost $1 and could be played about 5–10 times before needing to reconnect and pay again. Hardware cost around $60 and a $15 membership was required.

The Master Module had 8 KB of RAM and a 1200 baud modem, and it looked like a large silver cartridge with a side phone jack. Users logged in with a PIN to CVC’s central computer to download titles. Most games came from third-party developers like Imagic because CVC couldn’t secure licenses from the big publishers. Subscribers also got a monthly magazine called GameLiner with news, tips, and a list of available games, and they could join contests to win prizes. The original vision for GameLine included many other services beyond games, such as NewsLine and StockLine, but those were never fully launched.

In 1983, cable technology pioneer William von Meister adapted his modem tech to download games from central servers. Legal issues caused cable companies to back away, but the concept continued as GameLine’s delivery system. GameLine faded during the 1983 video game crash, and CVC went bankrupt.

Legacy and aftershocks: investors formed Quantum Computer Services, led by Steve Case, which launched Quantum Link for Commodore users. Quantum Link later became America Online (AOL), a major internet company. GameLine ended, but it helped spark later online services. One exclusive GameLine title, Save The Whales, remained notable as a prototype found in 2002.